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Re: Reds pursuing Francisco Pena, one of top players on the international market

From CNNSI.com truth and rumors, via the NY post.

In addition to signing 16-year-old Venezuelan catching prospect Jesus Montero, the Yankees are still hopeful they can ink Francisco Pena, a 16-year-old catcher from the Dominican Republic, whose father Tony is the Yankees' first base coach. However, it appears the Nationals, who gave Esmailyn Gonzalez, a 16-year-old Dominican shortstop $1.4 million, will land Pena. -- New York Post

"You can't let praise or criticism get to you. It's a weakness to get caught up in either one."

Re: Reds pursuing Francisco Pena, one of top players on the international market

I believe Jimbo sent something like 1.4 million on some kid (I forget his name) when he lost out on WMP to the Yankees. The Kid turned out to be like 2-3 years older then what they thought and fizzled out in AA.

Re: Reds pursuing Francisco Pena, one of top players on the international market

Originally Posted by Redmachine2003

I believe Jimbo sent something like 1.4 million on some kid (I forget his name) when he lost out on WMP to the Yankees. The Kid turned out to be like 2-3 years older then what they thought and fizzled out in AA.

Alejandro Pena/Quezada

The Sox traded Bullfrog the only player they've got for Shottenhoffen. Four-eyes Shottenhoffen a utility infielder. They've got a whole team of utility infielders.

Re: Reds pursuing Francisco Pena, one of top players on the international market

The Quezada signing was a one-time deal.

Before that, Marge always gave Jimbo a ton of money to work with in the MLB budget by cutting everything else (including player development) to the bone. Marge was infamous for running a bare-bones scouting department and allocating the bare minimum for draft pick signing bonuses. That's how the Reds ended up with signability picks like Chad Mottolla and scouting blunders like Jon Oliver in the first round.

Then, when Marge's pie hole got her in to trouble with MLB, John Allen took over and clamped down on MLB spending while freeing up a little cash for signing new amateur talent. That lasted about one year. After seeing $3MM flushed down the crapper on Howington/Quezada in the late 1990s, Allen once again cut the player development budget to the bone. That is when JimBo started getting creative in the draft by signing guys to MLB contracts (Espinosa) and punting draft picks (Sowers).

With the exception of Alejandro Quezada in 1998, JimBo never had much of a budget on the player development side of things during his tenure with the Reds.

Re: Reds pursuing Francisco Pena, one of top players on the international market

But would you keep giving money to some who just kept wasting it. Other than Dunn and Kearns did Jimbo get anything in his drafts. Other teams found things in the later rounds that didn't cost that much.

Re: Reds pursuing Francisco Pena, one of top players on the international market

Originally Posted by Redmachine2003

But would you keep giving money to some who just kept wasting it. Other than Dunn and Kearns did Jimbo get anything in his drafts. Other teams found things in the later rounds that didn't cost that much.

Re: Reds pursuing Francisco Pena, one of top players on the international market

The New York Mets on Saturday signed Dominican prospect Francisco Pena, the son of former major-league catcher Tony Pena, a source told ESPNdeportes.com.

The Mets, who paid Pena a bonus of $750,000, are not planning to make the move public until next week.

Besides the bonus, Pena would receive schooling expenses in case he decides to take up his studies again, and he could be invited to the Mets' training camp next spring.

"After intense negotiations with the most interested teams -- around 10 -- the Pena family decided to accept the Mets' offer," the source said.

According to the source, the presence of general manager Omar Minaya, also a Dominican native, in the Mets' front office was a major factor in Pena's decision to sign.

Pena, 16, is considered to be one of the best catching prospects in the Dominican Republic's baseball history.

"The kid is a good defensive catcher, but it is his bat what will take him far in baseball. We could say that he is a combination of Tony Pena's defense and Mike Piazza's bat," said Leo Mercedes, who runs the young player's career.

"I feel embarrassed to talk about my own son, but I think Francisco has a natural talent for batting, and as a catcher I can say that right now he has a better arm than I had when I was 16," said Tony Pena, now a Yankees coach who won four Gold Gloves and played in five All-Star games during his 18-year major-league career.

"My mission is to be the ray of hope, the guy who stands out there on that beautiful field and owns up to his mistakes and lets people know it's never completely hopeless, no matter how bad it seems at the time. I have a platform and a message, and now I go to bed at night, sober and happy, praying I can be a good messenger." -Josh Hamilton

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